Rolling Hills Agricultural Academy receives grant

Posted on April 23, 2026 by Vauxhall Advance

By Heather Cameron
Vauxhall Advance
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Rolling Hills Agricultural Academy recently became the beneficiary of a $5,000 grant from ADAMA Canada’s Stomping Grounds Initiative.

Darby Lester, Administrative Assistant at Rolling Hills School, says that the Academy has been fundraising for about a year to build a barn, and the grant has helped that project to the point where ground for the barn will be broken this spring.

“Our agricultural academy would not have been possible without the generosity of countless businesses, community members and a very dedicated group of staff and students,” said Lester. “We have been fortunate to have many donations, both monetary and gifts-in-kind, to make this academy and our barn project feasible.”

Lester also said that Seth Radcliffe, Business Agronomist with Independent Crop Inputs Inc. in Scandia, applied for the grant for the school, and that the school only found out about it when Radcliffe called the school to share what he had done.

“We were happily surprised!” said Lester of Radcliffe’s kind action.

Radcliffe, Lester noted, has also come to the Rolling Hills Agricultural Academy as part of the school’s weekly Speaker Series, where they bring in professionals from all areas. Lester said that if anyone is interested in coming in like Radcliffe and speaking to the Grade 5-9 students about their occupation, they can email Lester, lester@grasslands.ab.ca, or call Rolling Hills School at 403-964-3640.